And the award goes to...!
I had a brief email exchange this morning with my dear friend [not really]Gladys. She's had a lot on her plate lately, and our Saturday morning telephone call was cut short this past Saturday so that I could hop on my bicycle to go to the Art Fair.
Our email exchange caused me to remember when Gladys and I worked together and she was once awarded the "Wait! I have one in my purse!" Award at our company beach party/picnic/cookout that turned in to a crazy weekend for all concerned. We ended up going to San Diego the next day in the same clothes we had worn to the company party, and although many crazy things happened, it ended up with me being driven back home by someone I had only met standing in line to get into a bar. I do remember Gladys screeching from the roof of the bar next door, "Hey, I know her, it's LOW-iss!!"
We were lucky to have survived many of our excursions back then, and Gladys knows exactly what I am talking about!!
The email exchange went on to include information about what we might be doing on the upcoming Memorial Day weekend. Now that we no longer live across town from one another, it didn't end with any last-minute decisions to go to Palm Springs, or Mexico, or San Francisco... you get the idea. I mentioned that I might just pedal over to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway to people-watch, even though the crowds tend to include several shirtless men who rip open their empty Bud Light cartons to write "Show Me Your Tits" on the inside and hold it up to anyone within shouting distance - sometimes not even women. Often, The Greatest Spectacle In Racing is going on along the streets as cars wait to get into the Speedway before the 500.
This caused me to ponder (are you keeping up?), how would one of those guys remember to take a Sharpie, anyway? Gladys and I are both Sharpie aficionados and we always have them with us. Always.
When I went to see David Sedaris about two years ago, I had two olive green Sharpie pens with me - one fine point. I had also taken a book for him to sign in the event I could talk to him. As I walked up to him, I could swear he asked, "Are those your fancy pants??" Geesh! Hindsight is 20-20, because I would have ordinarily shot back with, "Honey, ALL my pants are fancy!" As it turns out, he slowed down and repeated part of his question, "Fancy P-E-N-S." Well, yes, those WERE my fancy pens, so David graciously drew me a picture of my fancy pen, signed my book and I insisted he keep my fancy pen for himself. He did. He put it right in his pocket. See? The award for fanciest pants - er, PENS, goes to me! I do love David Sedaris and I would gladly give him any fancy pen he wants! We can all rest assured that none of us would ever use our markers to issue requests to strangers, and certainly not on the inside of a Bud Light carton.
Finally, the award for self-control this weekend goes to...Me again! This is getting embarassing! I managed to only buy beer at the Art Festival. One after, too. A Negro Modelo - yum! I also avoided spending money unnecessarily at the art supply store in anticipation of my supplies list for the Fall semester. I begged the professor to let me know the list early so that we could avoid any cardiac arrest on the first day of class.
Yesterday, I successfully went to my favorite locally-owned music store and purchased only what I had intended to buy, Rufus Wainwright's "Release The Stars." Now for THAT, I really should get an award, as I generally leave with a rather unruly stack of music.
